Leno tubular narrow fabric



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g. 15, 1967 R. E. BELLMORE LEN@ TUBULAR NARROW FABRIC Filed Aug.

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ww, um wm E N@ BNVENTOR. RAYMOND E. BELLMRE .ATTORNEY U8 15 1957 R. E; BELLMORE l 3,335,763

LEN@ TUBULAR vNARROW FABRIC 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 26, 1965 Gm. Nm. h. wh. mm, bw Nm. vw .mm mw QN Nk vk wk .R R mn mn G uw 3 w mw .E mn

I N VEN TOR.

RA YMUND E. BEL L MORE ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,335,763 LENO TUBULAR NARROW FABRIC Raymond E. Bellmore, West Springfield, Mass., assignor to United Elastic Corporation, Easthampton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 482,782 8 Claims. (Cl. 139-419) This invention relates to a leno tubular woven narrow fabric.

When a leno woven face fabric is prepared with a very stiff weft thread, such as monolament thread, very attractive patterns can be produced, but the fabric has a very harsh feel and so is unsatisfactory for use iu apparel or other fabrics which must be worn next to the skin. This has made such a fabric often impractical for human use. This is equally true whether the fabric is made with some elastic warp threads so that it has moderate longitudinal stretch or is woven of all textile threads.

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages :as set out above by preparing a tubular weave in which some, in fact the majority, of warp threads are very soft textile threads and constitute the warp threads for the back of the tubular weave. The front presents an attractive pattern with a very stiff monofilament filling held in place with periodic pairs of leno ends. The numerous soft textile warp threads forming the back of the tubular weave protect the skin against the harsh, stiff weft threads without in any way detracting from the attractive designs which can be formed in the front face. Literally the Weave is a tubular weave, but is flattened with an occasion-al binding thread so that the back and front are locked together. The appearance of the fabric is, therefore, that of a two-layer weave although, as pointed out above, actually the weave is in the form of a tubular weave, the tube being flattened and bound or stitched together at intervals. As inthe case of most narrow fabrics or webbings, selvages are woven in and might be thought of as effectively stitching together the outer edges of the tube, although of course the effect is` produced in the weaving itself and not by subsequent stitching. Although the invention is not limited thereto, it is preferable to provide a reasonable number of spaced elastic warp threads which are preferably part of the warp threads which form the front surface of the tubular weave. In a preferred aspect of the present invention `such elastic weaves are included.

. The stiff, hard, monofilament weft thread weaves in the back part of the tube more or less regularly and constitutes a back pick. The pattern lappearing on the face of the fabric is produced by face picks alternating with the back picks, weaving through the face warp ends. The stiff monolilament weft threads on the face picks float across the surface between the leno warp threads. The number of floats depends on the number of face picks between crossings of the leno warp ends. This permits the weaving of a number of different attractive patterns. In Aeve-ry case, however, the uniform soft-warp-thread rear layer of the tubular weave protects against, any harsh feeling or hand of this reverse side.

The effectiveness of the cover of the stiff harsh weft threads on the back of the weave is enhanced when, in =a preferred modification, some elastic Warp threads are present and weaving is in a moderately stretched condition. On relaxation the soft back warp threads bunch up slightly to produce a continuous soft surface. This modification is preferred, but it is of course possible to produce a fabric by weaving in an unstretched condition.

FPice the like, and the stiff weft threads may be of any type, such as monolaments, monofilament, coated spun threads, etc. Monofilament threads are preferred and may be of any desired chemical constitution, for example polyvinylidene chloride, polyoleiins such as polypropylene, monofilament acrylics, polyamides and the like. It is an advantage of the invention that even when all of the threads are white, an attractive `design is produced; but the invention is in no sense limited thereto and attractive designs can be formed with colored weft threads. Here again it is possible to vary the design by having some of the weft threads colored and some white or bands of different colors. It is, of course, possible to have colored warp threads, but for a great many uses of the present in vention, such as for example straps for underwear, belts and the like, white warp threads are more or less standard.

When rubber warp threads are interspersed with the other warp threads and appear in the front surface of the tubular weave, they may be of any well known type, covered or uncovered. The core may be rubber, spandex, or any suitable elastic material. It is also possible to include core spun elastic warp threads, though for most uses the more common covered elastic threads are preferred. The fact that other less common forms of elastic warp threads may be used is, however, an advantage of the present invention and contributes to its Versatility.

The invention will be described in greater detail in com junction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the front surface with representative warp threads sufliciently separated so that the weave pattern as a whole is presented;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of an end of =a fabric showing two successive weft threads, and

FIG. 3 is a lengthwise cross section showing a few of the different warp threads, including one leno warp thread.

In the drawings, in FIG. 1 there are only shown a few of the representative warp ends, particularly in the case of the ends which form the ba-ck of the fabric. In an actual fabric there will be up to or more back ends, all of which weave the same, and if they were all shown in the drawings, the illustration would be hopelessly confused. Also, since the drawings are intended to represent the preferred or best form of the invention, there will be described a fabric with a number of elastic warp ends woven in a stretched condition so that on relaxation the soft back warp ends can fluff up to make a softer hand at the back of the weave. As the number 4of representative back ends are so drastically reduced in number in the drawings, fluffng out does not show. The effect of the stretch'weaving is well known in the art and the flufling out of soft textile warp ends is so conventional that no specific representation of this effect is shown.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the fabric after weaving and relaxation of tension. Forty-eight representative warp ends are shown numbered 2 to 49 consecutively from left to right. Back ends of soft textile threads are shown in two groups. The group of ends 6, 9, 1:2, 19, 21, 24, 32, 34, 38, 40 and 45 all weave the same. The second group of back ends 8, 10, 14, 18, 20, 26, 30, 37, 39, and 43 also weave the same, but not the same as the first group.

Face ends are also in two groups each group weaving the `sameI but the two groups weaving different from each other. The first group is made up of ends 7, 13, 33 and 44 and the second group of ends '5, 27, 31 and 46. There are four pairs of covered rubber leno ends, one group 17, 22, 36 and 41 weaving the same and the other group 16, 23, 35 and 42 also all Weave the same.

There are also illustrated four edge ends, of which 2 and 48 weave the same and 3 and 49 weave the same. Rubber ends, which are covered, 4, 15, 28 and 47 all weave the same as does the stuffer end 29. Face stitch ends 11 and 25 all weave the same.

The weft thread is stiff monofilament and the picks are numbered 50 to 77. The even numbers represent weaving the back of the fabric, which is in a plain weave, and the odd numbered picks weave the face of the fabric. The rubber" ends and the stuffer end in the face of the fabric weave a plain weave with the odd numbered weft threads.

In FIG. 1 the weft threads in the portion of the picks where they float between the leno ends are shown in solid black as indicated at 1. This brings out, as well as can be done inV two dimensional monochrome, the appearance of Vthe face of the weave.

FIG. 2 lis an end view of the fabric from the bottom of FIG. 1 and shows very clearly the tubular nature of the weave and also shows the floats 1 which, as in FIG. l, are shown in solid black. For clarity the separation of the planes of the face warp ends and the back warp ends has been greatly exaggerated, in the actual fabric these two planes are quite close together because the face and back are stitched together as has been described above.

FIG. 3 is a section taken between ends 15 and the leno pair 16 and 17. This section is taken looking to the right and only a few of the representative different kinds of warp ends are illustrated, thus the edge ends 48 and 49 appear as do a pair of backing ends 18 and 19. There is also shown one typical face end 27, a rubber end 28, and one of the face stitch ends 25. The plain weave of the backing appears clearly following ends 18 and 19 and it will also be seen that end 28 and the leno end 17 produce a plain weave on the face of the fabric. The stitching effect of the edge ends is also clearly shown as well as the stitching lof the stitch end 25, the stitching .point appearing clearlyin FIG. 3 at the weft threads 55 to 57. As in FIG. 2 this spacing of the planes of face and back ends is greatly exaggerated for clarity.

It will appear from FIGS. 1 and 2 that the weave of the edge ends are held to the surface or face with long oats, which makes asoft smooth edge. This appears most clearly at the-right hand side of FIG. 2 where the weft thread 51 only goes over the face warp end 46 and otherwise floats. These floats of course are not shown in solid black at 1 which designates only the portions of the face Weave where the weft floats are on top. These long floats connecting the edge to the surface makes for a soft smooth edge and takes away the harshness of the stiff weft thread.

It will be seen in FIG. 1 that the long floats of weft thread on the face of the fabric shown at 1 are in groups of nine, when counted in the warp direction; however, by reason of the plain face weave of the leno warp ends, five of the long floats of the weft threads 57, 61, 65, 69, and 73 appear most conspicuously, the other four of the weft threads 59, 63, `67, and 71 being slightly lower where they go under the adjacent leno ends and, therefore, the appearance of the fabric is as if there were groups of rfive spaced warp floats. This is brought out in FIG. 1 by making solid black only for those floats which pass over a pair of adjacent leno ends. At the -point where the leno ends cross there is a longer separation of weft floats at the surface, which also adds to the distinctiveness -of the weave. The exact number of the weft floats between the leno ends is not a critical limitation of the present invention and weaves with a smaller or larger number of picks between points where the leno ends cross over and lock are included. The number of picks between leno cross-overs illustrated specifically results in a very pleasing fabric and so is shown as a typical illustration without intending to limit the invention to the exact number of picks between leno end cross-overs. Also, the fabric illustrated, which is a suitable webbing for brassiere s-traps, belts, and the like, and which shows two groups of weft oats, is not intended tolimit the invention. There may be any even number of paired leno ends. However, the four pairs illustrated produce a pleasing symmetrical design.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 a single stiff weft thread has been illustrated. It will be obvious to those skilled in the weaving art that more than one weft thread may be used, which permits designs with contrasting colors. The general nature of the fabric is not thereby changed. It is still tubular with a soft back, but of course the appearance of the face with multicolored separate weft threads can be made quite different. It is an advantage of the present invention that the important desirable features of the tubular weave with soft back can `be made into a number of different designs. This added flexibility is a practical advantage of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A tubular leno Iweave fabric comprising in cornbination a relatively large number of soft textile warp threads for the back of the tubular weave, a smaller number of face warp threads for the face of the tubular weave, the face warp threads including spaced leno warp threads, the leno warp threads weaving only in the face, stiff, coarse, weft threads woven to produce a substantially simple close weave on the back of the tube and a designed face weave with the leno warp ends and others, groups of the weft threads between leno pairs appearing as relatively long floats on the face surface.

2. A tubular leno weave fabric according to claim 1 in which the weft threads are monolament threads.

3. A tubular leno weave fabric according to claim 1 in which the face warp ends include elastic warp ends and the fabric is woven in stretched condition and relaxed whereby the soft textile warp ends forming the back of the fabric bunch up to increase the softness of feel of the back of the fabric.

4. A tubular leno weave fabric according to claim 2 in which the face warp ends include elastic warp `ends and the fabric is woven in stretched condition and relaxed whereby the soft textile warp ends forming the back of the fabric bunch up to increase the softness of feel of the back of the fabric.

5. A tubular leno Iweave fabric according to claim 1 in which the edge warp threads and at least one warp thread between the edges stitch the face and back of the fabric together at predetermined points longitudinally to form a llat, stitched-together, tubular fabric.

6. A tubular leno weave fabric according to claim 5 in which the face warp ends include elastic warp ends and the fabric is woven in stretched condition and relaxed whereby the soft textile warp ends forming the back of the fabric bunch up to increase the softness of feel of the back of the fabric.

7. A tubular leno weave fabric according to claim 1 in which a plurality of different weft threads are present and at least the weft threads weaving the face of the fabric are in more than one color.

8. A tubular leno weave fabric according to claim 3 in which a plurality of different weft threads are present and at least the weft threads weaving the face of the fabric are in more than one color.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,965,248 7/1934 Moore 139-423 2,640,508 6/ 1953 Siciliano 139-423. 2,718,244 9/ 1955 Moore 139-423 2,804,100 8/1957 Siciliano 139-423 3,172,430 3/1965 lVeidhaas 139-422.

f FOREIGN PATENTS 707,145 4/ 1931 France.

5,309 of 1883 Great Britain. 552,532 12/1956 Italy.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. I. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TUBULAR LENO WEAVE FABRIC COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER OF SOFT TEXTILE WARP THREADS FOR THE BACK OF THE TUBULAR WEAVE, A SMALLER NUMBER OF FACE WARP THREADS FOR THE FACE OF THE TUBULAR WEAVE, THE FACE WARP THREADS INCLUDING SPACED LENO WARP THREADS, THE LENO WARP THREADS WEAVING ONLY IN THE FACE, STIFF, COARSE, WEFT THREADS WOVEN TO PRODUCE A SUBSTANTIALLY SIMPLE CLOSE WEAVE ON THE BACK OF THE TUBE AND A DESIGNED FACE WEAVE WITH THE LENO WARP ENDS AND OTHERS, GROUPS OF THE WEFT THREADS BETWEEN LENO PAIRS APPERARING AS RLATIVELY LONG FLOATS ON THE FACE SURFACE. 